Christmas Poem XV: “In Bethle’em’s Sky”

Every year, I write a poem for Christmas, and include it in my Christmas cards to friends and family. For the days leading up to Christmas, I’m publishing all of my Christmas poems here, as a kind of Advent calendar.

Today’s poem was written in 2006. It’s a bit autobiographical, about a long walk I took in the middle of the night of December 1 that year. The temperature was 60 degrees at midnight!

December hit town like a lion this year
The king of a jungle of heat and storm
Traffic snarled as the lights went out
Could Christmas come to a land this warm?

I walked the Bethlehem streets that night
I met a man who sought his Lord
He pined for peace and pled for hope
His wings were clipped, which once had soared

Yet ended not this night so dim
Though fear and thirst distort his face
For a sign he cried, and a sign was giv’n
Of forgiving hope, of life and grace

For see, just now, in Bethle’em’s sky
A heavenly gift transforms his pain
This parched man’s heart is filled with joy
We dance together in the rain

Can one day really change a life?
Can one day generate a spark?
A sparkling wink of lucent hope
Makes each long night no longer dark